A Good old fashion Christmas Miracle would be nice
by AndyMine
Summary: The troubled team of Torchwood Three has more then just change ahead when a little boy gets caught up in the latest Rift activity close to Christmas
1. Chapter 1

The wind rushed past his ear faster than his legs were moving. The brisk air told him the storm had arrived with the sensation he felt off the bay freezing the land its current touched. He was more or less used to the cold, for the most part it didn't bother him anymore. But this time of year in the world of humans, on this planet Earth, the cold meant more than a change of seasons. It meant the Yuletide was in the air and Christmas was going to happen whether aliens landed or the Rift shifted in some lost unknown terror from somewhere else in the universe or another place in the time stream. To Captain Jack Harkness it was a time of regret. He knew once again he would be alone.

But it didn't matter, alone was something Jack did very well. And to him this time of year didn't feel any different than any other time of year, except that the streets seemed less active. But he loved the peace and quiet, walking for hours along the docks, taking in the silence from the absence of humanity and having it replaced by just the natural sounds the planet made.

Right now he was running, trying to keep up with the latest thing that the Rift had spit out. It was something he had heard tell of in the backwater dens of filth he visited for pleasure during his days in the Time Agency. It was faster than the stories said, it was uglier as well but its purpose was still the same. It had just killed two innocent bystanders that happened to be in its path when the Rift opened right in front of them.

"Damn unlucky bastards!" Jack spoke to the frozen air as the latest blast of cold wind followed by a few snow flurries froze his ears. "I maybe immortal but I should think to wear a hat sometimes. I still can freeze to death!" He said it out loud with a smile. It was true that he could still suffer from the elements but when the chase was this great making his heart pump with new surges of adrenaline he felt the warmth return to the exposed parts of his body after faster than the cold air chilled them. He was healing as quick as the damage was happening. But the thought of death by cold was still terrifying to him. He did after all have a kind of list of the most uncomfortable ways to die and exposure to the cold did rank up there in unpleasantness.

He paused spotting a second set of footprints along with the thing's set. Checking his wrist strap he saw that the Rift had opened twice, something he just didn't notice before. It seem the thing was chasing something that the Rift dropped off moments before its arrival. That had Jack wondering just what it was after and what kind of chaos that thing would bring to the good citizens of Cardiff while looking for it.

He was smiling as he felt the brown/black hair on his head freezing when the snow got heavier. But the snow was a good thing because now the thing he chased was leaving prints and they were unmistakable. The set of prints it was following wasn't so lucky; they were vanishing in the snow. He rounded his next corner leading into a back alleyway where the thing had headed and skidded to a halt about 20 feet in. There he found a body of a young "working' woman slumped over and bloody.

He knelt next to her, going for her neck to check for a pulse. He felt the slick blood on his fingers; her neck was ripped apart by the thing but there was just a little bit of life left in her, he could sense that. At least the thing made fast work of the kill; she more than likely wasn't feel the pain as she faded away. She was only around 20 or so, barely old enough to know life, yet she had to make a living walking the streets looking for someone to make a pound off of. Her chances for a long life were slim anyway, with diseases as a factor in casualties as well as murders that prayed on this kind of woman. She could be homeless by the looks of her worn black coat and shoes. Her short red skirt rested over her thighs exposing worn ripped stockings that were thin and not very good protection from the cold.

He raised her face to have a better look at her. He forgot her blood was on his hands, leaving a smear on her cheek like a badly placed attempt at rouge. It saddened Jack to see her like that making her look worse than the life she was leading would eventually do. But as much as he wanted to stay with her, to give her some comfort in her final moment he had to stop the thing that did this before it killed again. He leaned in and kissed her nearly cold lips, letting his life breath fill her. The taste of blood was in her mouth but he didn't care. Jack waited a bit more until he was sure he took her last breath with him. She seemed to smile, her brown hair tangled in a mix of blood and snow, the red mark on her cheek from his bloody print making her seem like a broken puppet with the strings cut. She had a sparkle in her eyes as they focused on Jack's face before their light faded.

"I won't let this get to me, just another death and I have seen so many. I hope I don't live forever, that what I am will die for got at one point. There is a certain beauty in death." He brushed the thoughts away before he head down that depressing path in his mind. Right now it wasn't about his life, it was about that thing that has taken three lives that can't come back from the dead.

He swore not to cry, not here, not now, as he stood over her with one more glance before he turned on his heels to follow the trace of footprints and blood in the snow. It started to get heavier and he hoped his act of compassion hadn't meant he had lost the trail. He made note of where the woman's body was so the team could come and take her away. They were already at the place of origin for the first attacks dealing with the clean up. But he didn't have time to dig out the radio from his greatcoat and call for them to come claim the woman. She would have to suffer the weather for a bit more.

It was then that he saw the second set of prints much clear next to the things prints; they were a smaller set of human prints then he had thought when he first noticed them. Jack knelt down to have a closer look, the snow was almost blinding now as the wind made quick work of covering up the prints. But yes he could still read the signs. There was some young person being chased by the creature. He leapt to a run trying to outrace the heavier snowfall, hoping to save this life.

He skidded around the next corner, almost missing the trail from the sudden intrusion of the woman's ghostly image in his mind. Suddenly this was starting to make him feel some sense of urgency as if the woman was trying to tell him that the life he chases was important. This child was it hers?

"Come on Jack, block it out, work through this. That girl is gone and there is no such thing as ghosts." It hit him then, the girl's death, as the tears welled in the corners of his eyes, blurring his vision even more with the snow falling. He assumed it was a reaction from taking her last breath. He never did that before, he didn't know what he did it just then. "You don't have time to dwell on this." Willing him self to get control of his emotions proved not so easy, feeling the girl dying played with his mind. He would have to move past this if he was to get the thing that killed her.

He stopped to gather his thoughts, leaning up against a closed storefront trying to grab hold of him self so he could focus. It wasn't enough that this damned creature was here, a thing of fangs and blood lust because of the Rift. Torchwood failed at protecting another life and this one now haunting him telling him there was a living being that really need him to help. He growled, pushing his body off the wall as he suppressed these too human feelings that were defiantly not his to continued the hunt.

The wind froze his face, making him curse again for not having a hat. He hated his vanity for a change, laughing at how others thought him to be vain. It was more like stupidity that made him forget things that mattered like a hat. He really wasn't vain and since he always recovered from the cold he didn't care to wear one. But as a gust of wind threw snow in his face he wished for a scarf and a hat. "Maybe Santa will be nice this year and give me that!" He needed the levity right now and it was working bring him back to tracking mode.

A quick kneel helped him find the prints again and the wind left the next part of the trail unscathed. He smiled, hoping his luck was better now as he rounded another corner, heading towards the church down the street. His feet picked up speed and the wind coming up from behind him seemed to increase his pace.

He heard a scream high pitched and petrified by the sound. The tracks led to the back of the church near a boarded off part of the building that wasn't used. He saw it then, the creature standing on hind legs, silver back gleaming in a flickering streetlight. The world felt almost warm in the orange glow between the snow and the streetlight. The storm increased as the wind blew the snow about, whiting out Jack's vision. He still caught a glimpse of the monster in its all-mechanical glory.

The skull was round, almost like a fancy silver bowl with eyes that seemed to be a bright white light, the like of which a current of incandescent light could never produce. It was as alien as its power source. Jack remembered seeing that kind of light in his time. It could search and cover wide areas without using a huge amount of power. The thing's gaze changed the light, as it held a young boy in its sights. The light beam narrowed as if scanning the target. The boy was holding something and because of the snow even with the enhanced beam of light on the frightened youth, Jack couldn't make out just what the thing was interested in. But whatever it was, the creature howled when the boy held it up.

The boy felt sick as he stood against the boarded up church door shaking. He was staring directly at the thing looking at him. His hair was buried under a woolen cap that was caked with snow and sweat from his being chased by the thing. He was so afraid that it would have overcome him and killed him like his friend in the alleyway. He saw a blur take her down, watching her body crumple to the ground. But that wasn't the first time that night he saw someone die.

There was those other two early that stood in front of him as he picked up the object he held in his hand. That object he found fair and square after the yellow light left it on the ground a few feet away from him. He got to it before the others and it was his by right. "But they didn't have to die. Mary didn't have to die." He thought as the thing moved a little bit closer.

The object he had found was small, black in color and smooth and polished to a mirror-like shine. He remembered when he picked it up and held it in his hand, turning its smooth oblong shape over and over again while the snow melted off its rather warm surface. The first two that died early had their eyes on the object he remembered. They stared as if it had a hold over them but the boy knew the faces of greed from living on the streets.

"Give us that, son, and we won't harm you." The taller of the two said.

They grew angry, snarling at him as he backed away. He knew as their eyes turned violent, a look he had seen many times before from their kind, that they would hurt him. From the way they moved towards him, he knew he was in danger so he tried to drop the object and run. It wouldn't leave his hand. He tried to shake it off but it seemed to be attached to his skin. Just as he thought of running a second yellow light appeared.

It was before any harm befell him that the thing appeared. In a flash of light it came into this world and killed the men to get to the boy. It snarled flashing blood stained silver teeth fixing its gaze on the boy.

The boy did the only thing he could. He threw snow into its face and took off not looking once over his shoulders. It was at some point he thought the snow had stopped the thing from finding his trail that he ran into one of the local girls he knew. She was kind to him, like a big sister so she always took time to ask how he was that day. "Do you have plans for Christmas, Aden?" He shook his head and she smiled. "Then you can spend time with me, some of us are going to get some money together and get a room and some food. I'll work extra hard to buy us a nice dinner. Will you like that?" She smiled when he grinned up at her, his little chubby face aglow from his running. He felt safe near her, like he was liked for a change. She saw the thing in his hand. "What's that?"

Before he could speak the thing pulled her away from him, falling on her and tearing at her neck. He ran again trying not to look back as tears landed hot on his frosty cheeks. Except this time he was not able to put that much distance between the thing and himself. It closed in on him as he felt it snap a few times in the air over his head, leaving the smell of some oil-like stench as it opened and closed its jaws. He never looked behind him; he just kept running until the he reached the church. He was mad that Father Andrew had boarded up his hole into the church again. It was the good Father's way of trying to get Aden to come to him. He wanted Aden to go to the orphanage so the boy would be off the streets. But he knew Aden to be stubborn and too proud to feel the need for a home. At least that is what Father Andrew thought. But that wasn't it. Aden didn't trust many people and adults, except for Father Andrew, only seemed to hurt him. So he lived on the streets because there at least he was alone and could run if he had to.

Right now he wished he had listened to Father Andrew as the thing closed in sniffing the air. It flashed its eyes at him one more time before it howled as its metal four legged body much like a lion or panther leapt at him. He sank to the ground, covering his face. At least he thought that if he didn't see it coming it wouldn't hurt so bad as it did to him what it had done to the others. He thought on Mary's face, remembering her kindness and hoping that maybe she was waiting for him in the afterworld.

Jack watched the thing lunge as the boy took a defensive position. Jack knew that he needed to do something quickly before the metal thing killed the boy. He felt for his wrist strap knowing the gun would be useless. He remembered the drunken conversations about these Hunter Seeker Robots that would go after stolen merchandise. They were programmed to get the object and bring it back as quickly as possible, following its mark through time if necessary and returning it to the owner in one piece. To the known universe they were unstoppable.

But Jack remembered an old man that was telling a story about one he had to defeat after being asked by another man at the bar if there was a way of stopping them. They sat in that dank bar waiting as the old man chewed on some Lacken, trying to rejuvenate his high. When he spit the chaw out on the floor he said one word. "Sonics." That was all Jack needed to remember and set the fequence on his wrist strap. The first burst had the thing turning its attention to the annoyance it felt. The next adjustment had the thing howling, but not moving. With a quick motion of fingers now unaffected by the cold, Jack set the third blast of high-pitched sound that made the dogs bark throughout Cardiff causing the creature to explode into pieces where it was. Sparks from metal bits headed into the air, dancing gold lights mixing with winter's silver from the now heavy snowfall.

The boy looked up just as the pieces danced around in the snow. It was like magic or a Christmas miracle just happened before him. He stood to see a shape behind the gold debris watching the fireworks. When it was all settled Aden thought that an angel had saved him by the looks of the figure approaching him in a long flowing robe of white crystals.

"You're safe now." Jack said, kneeling a few feet away from the child that seemed unharmed. "Here, give me your hand and lets get warmed up." He noticed that the boy was clutching something in his hand and he started to shake. "Hey, what have you got there? Can I see it?" Jack had a feeling it was what the thing was after. Piecing things together, Jack assumed the boy must have found the object before the Hunter Seeker did and so the boy became a target, as did anything or anyone that the boy came in contact with.

As Jack moved closer Aden's heart sank when he realized it was just another adult that would hurt him. His disappointment that Jack wasn't an angle saddened him. Jack's Greatcoat didn't help; Aden thought he was the police. He didn't want to go back to that home, he wanted nothing like that again. So he reached for a brick that lay on the ground nearby as Jack moved closer telling him it was going to be all right. Jack made the mistake of reaching out to touch the boy. Aden hit him as hard as he could. Jack went down hard, face first into the snow that was now stained with his blood.

He didn't check to see if the man was breathing. Aden ran into the storm and into the night scared out of his wits.

End Part One

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

"You with us Jack?" The voice was soft as he slowly opened his eyes. He groaned as he felt the stab of pain hit the front of his brain. "Easy, you had a nasty bump." The voice was female. He recognized it as his eyes shaped the face. "Not that it will hurt you for long." The voice's touch of sarcasm matched the face he was looking at.

"Helen?" He blinked as his wondered why she was here. She moved around the medical bay putting away the items she had used on his head. He reached for the spot where the skin tingled as it knit together.

"Yes, you know me, that is a good thing. But the last time I was here, you told me I was unforgettable. Do you remember that?" He nodded, smiling at her. "Good, then coming home for Christmas might have been a great choice on my part." She moved back over to the table to help him sit up.

Jack couldn't get over the fact that she was in front of him. Her pretty green eyes were as bright as the blonde of her hair. She was wearing a simple light pink dress with a little check pattern. He loved her in pink, it made her skin seem peach-like, so soft to look at. He felt that feeling he always got when she was around. He thought it was that wicked perfume she wore, smelling so innocent but so inviting. But he knew it was her very being that drew him to her. She was dangerous to him, knocking him away from the path he traveled. He was almost happy when she left him alone in his bed with a note saying good-bye.

"_I didn't want to tell you last night since it was so damn special. But I took that the job in the London office. Think of it this way, it won't have to end in Retcon and I won't have to break your heart. Your secret is safe with me." _

"Arty and the others found you out in the cold. There was blood everywhere but you just had a little bump. They are finishing up the clean up and asked me to see to you. Phil invited me before you say anything, he asked me to come down for the holidays. He wants to send Kate and Steven down to Scotland for good. He didn't want you shorthanded while he went to see the PM in London," she smiled while she settled him on his feet.

He let his hand touch a bit of soft hair. This was a big mistake as he found her so exciting being next to him. He was able to gain his control and moved away from her. She blinked at first but went back to cleaning up the place, not looking a bit like she had lost her cool to him.

He took that with pride. Not many people he had been with could move away so fast without a little revisit to his lips. If they didn't want him near again, male or female, they would have punched him. That sometimes turned him on more. He always mused that the best lovers are the ones that put up a bit of a fight.

"London to see the PM? That is a load of garbage; he is going to see the PM's wife. They are still carrying on. He sucks up to him by day and then gets her to suck…" He paused as Helen slammed a metal bowl down hard and loudly on the table near him.

"Jack, don't you dare, I have not missed your creative mind!" She was laughing openly and friendly at him.

He joined her until his head started to hurt. "Here, take some aspirin." She put the bottle on the table with a smile before turning her back to him. To him this foreplay meant the dance was on for them. It was just this kind of behavior that led him to her bed. Those soft cotton sheets that they spent so many off work hours in. He almost moved in, had almost asked her to marry him. But it was a dream. She was just a vision of that dream as she turned to him while he dry swallowed the pills.

He didn't need them; it was for show, a show he didn't need to put on for her. It was a death that had her out the door and London bound. One of his many deaths that scared them away, and she was packed and gone. "You could have told me you were leaving. I would have understood. I'm not easy to live with knowing that I may live forever. But you could have told me; I almost followed you, almost. But I respected your choice enough not to before you ask why I didn't it."

He watched her frown, making her look cuter than ever. He wanted to run to her for just one more hug, one more chance, but he kept his distance. She was a distraction. He needed to remember something. "Hey, did they find a kid when they found me, a little boy around 10 maybe 12 years old? He had brown hair, I think. Cute kid, the thing was after him."

She looked puzzled by his jump away from their dance. Her small nose crinkled as she shook her head no. "Arty said you were alone. Phil, when he brought you in said they thought your were dead. Did a little kid hit you?" She held back the smirk.

He did his little smile, hitting her hard with its effect; she melted a little as he responded to her.

"Oh you would like to find out that the great Jack Harkness was bested by a little kid."

He was near her before she could recover. He let his physical body tease hers for the smallest of moments. He brushed against her, bringing his face close to hers and holding his breath while he listened to the rapid pacing of hers. When he saw that he had her that he was affecting her balance he moved away, leaving her in her swoon as he headed to the main room.

"Not fair!" She laughed.

How he had missed her just then! She matched his pace unlike many others before. But the boy was in his mind right now easing his need for her. He had to find the boy before something happened. Actually, it was what the boy held in his hand, what the Hunter Seeker wanted from him that mattered. Jack had a feeling that if it was important enough to send one of those things through time once and it would be just important to make a second attempt. But Jack had a feeling like he did some many times before; the second attempt would be by some other means. He has seen galactic armies come after the smallest of things, stopping at nothing to get the object they wanted. It wasn't just a little boy but the whole city; maybe the world that might be in danger at the next attempt.

Helen's heels made a click, click sound on the floor as she entered the room; Jack was too lost in his quest to notice. She watched him, his shirt a little undone, her doing so he could breath better. It was the dark blue one, the best color for him, she thought, because it made his blue eyes bluer.

He was so strong she remembered, watching his muscles work through the material as he typed on to the Hub's rather advanced computer system. "Aliens made it", Jack had told her, and she believed him for the most part. Phil said the rumor was that Jack had built it. Phil also said the rumor was Jack was as old as Torchwood, maybe older.

She now knew that Phil was right. She also was aware of how Jack felt each time a team went and he came in as a replacement from London. She found that even Torchwood London didn't know Jack's whole story, he was listed as confidential for eyes only, and hundreds of security codes that were needed just to find out his birth date. She never could find out his real name let alone his birthday, getting a warning from above when she tried. Oh well, it was a nice thought to send him a birthday card; after all she didn't want to be forgotten. She was aware that with his lifestyle that was a possibility. There were those stories of females and males in and out of his bed that did make her wonder if she did mean anything to him. She was after all plain by many standards, mousey at best in her own eyes and she was short, barely at 5'5" and that bothered her that someone more leggy or even a male could tempt that great Captain and she would just be one of many in his long list of conquests. But she was learning to move on or until she came back thought she had been able to coup without him. Being so close to Jack was a really problem now that he had embedded himself in her nose. That smell made her feel again.

Seeing his reaction, she knew she had misjudged him. He was smittened by her the same as before she left. "If I remember, I was good with the computer. I could help you. After all, I was trained by you." In more ways then one, she thought.

"I need you to find out when the others are coming back. I need to know if they found a black stone in the snow and to ask around about the boy. I think my best bet is to go back out there and find him myself. I know what he looks like" He rubbed his head. "At least I think I remember." He went for his coat hanging on the hook near the stairs. It was still damp and the wool smelled like a wet dog. "At least the liner is dry, not that the cold will bother me." He turned to look at her. She was still as beautiful as that picture he had of her that he kept in his desk.

"Jack, this is the worst blizzard in years. They closed the town down. What makes you think the boy is out there? He more than likely went home. Whatever it is, can't it wait?" She remembered that look; he wasn't listening as he just turned to leave her alone in this scary place.

"Whatever sent that thing here, it wants what the kid has. The kid is scared, though I don't blame him; three people were more than likely killed in front of him. He panicked and hit me over the head. I can tell you one thing I remember, he had a very untrusting look when I came near him. He seemed to be street urchin. I bet he was connected to that church he seemed to be trying to get into. But I have to go and find him before we have another visitor on this almost Christmas Eve." He checked his wrist strap, which to Helen seemed an irregular thing to do. He wanted to go to her, kiss her good-bye, just hold her warm body to his, but he couldn't. Despite what he wanted he had to settle for what he could have. So he turned to go, but not before spying out of the corner of his eyes a scarf on one of the hooks. He took that with him.

She watched him go, sighing. She went to the radio and sent out the message he asked her to do. Feeling that sensation as if the Hub was haunted, she wrapped her arms around herself and went back to sit at Jack's desk to monitor the equipment. If Jack was right someone would have to stay here in case something came through looking for whatever it was Jack thought it was looking for. But when Jack got back she would ask him about that thing on his wrist. It always bugged her that he wore it, making him look like some overblown adventurer out of one of the cinema serials. It was time to learn a little more about the man she still was in love with. But did he feel the same?

"Not much of a welcome back. But I didn't expect him to twirl me around and never put me down." She grinned before clicking the camera on outside. The snow made it hard for her to barely see Jack try to walk through the blizzard away from the Hub. "But you almost came close then Jack, you almost gave me a kiss to melt the stockings off my feet!"

* * *

><p>He ran from the man as far as he could get. He kept seeing the blood, the blood he drew in fear that made him no different from the thing that took Mary away. "If only I could have joined you tonight Mary, I wouldn't be so cold. And we could have had Christmas together." He was just that, wet and cold with not even the church to crawl into. Those others, the ones that took that military man away, were all over the church. He was sure that Father Andrew had turned him in. So he went in search of other places to get warm or at least to get out of the snow.<p>

His right hand was warm so he wrapped the left one around it to heat it up; the stone was keeping them that way. That made things better, if only he could make his feet warm. Maybe the snow wouldn't seem so bad. But as he passed by some houses, warmly lit with smoke coming out of the chimneys he noticed the wind more and even his warm hands didn't make him feel any better. After all, he lost the only person he had trusted tonight. And that was the last straw. So he thought that maybe it was time, that the thing tonight had the right idea to end his life. He would be better off, no one to hurt him and no one to harm him. He was one The State said had no future so why not end it all since no one cared?

He was rather motivated as he headed for the pier. It was closer than he thought as he struggled to make his little legs work in the deepening piles of snow. But when he got to the edge, wind howled around him and the snow beating him down even more into self-pity, he felt oddly content, almost happy that this would be it, no more pain. It did bother him that he would never have a life like other boys, not even a chance for that, but it didn't matter to Aden as much as it would have. He could see Mary, maybe his parents again. He looked up at the sky hoping God would catch him that he would forgive and take him into the warmth of heaven. After all, his life wasn't his fault and what they did to him he hadn't asked for. He knew despite it all that he was a good boy.

Suddenly he felt warm. He couldn't explain why just that he was warm, but he smelled like a wet dog. He suddenly became aware of a big grey woolen coat wrapped around him as he was being lifted up. He felt sleepy all of a sudden as the warmth took hold and he floated away. For a brief moment he saw a face, dark hair and kind eyes just like the man he had hit. He struggled for a bit but gave in to the man. He felt good so he thought that maybe he had jumped and he was dead and this man was really an angel carrying him to heaven.

* * *

><p>Arty tried to light his cigarette under the doorway near the last victim but the snow was too strong and the paper got wet. "Oh Christ, I wasted a good smoke there." He shook the snow off his grey cap and brushed his jacket getting the rest off as well. His brown eyes watched as Steven finished cleaning the wall behind the girl of the last of the blood. "At least the snow is stopping for a bit. Jack at least is warm now that Helen is back. Do you think he'll be less moody now that she has come for a visit?" He picked up the kit as he waited on Steven.<p>

"You could have helped." Steven sneezed, shaking the snow out of his red hair. "I should have grabbed me scarf before I left." He put the last cloth in the sack and checked the area one more time. He then took out something from the boot of the car leaving the sack in the back that looked like a vacuum and turned it on facing towards where the girl's body was found. He didn't hear Arty say "I did help" over the sound of the machine that was putting fresh snow over the area. When he was satisfied that the clean up was complete and the scene picture perfect he signaled for Arty to get back to the car. Arty did and started to back up the car out the way they came. Steven walked out covering up their tracks until they got out to the main road where he shut the thing off. Putting it in the back seat, he got into the passenger side.

"Well that looks perfect." Arty said as he puffed on a cigarette finally. "Now, do we swing by the church or do we go to the Hub and catch Jack and Helen, you know, playing?" He winked at Steven that wanted nothing to do with it.

He narrowed his blue eyes at Arty being very close to hitting him. "I'm so sick of working with you and that overblown Jack Harkness. The only thing the two of you think about is sex. Helen is a decent woman, smart and full of life. She is beautiful and you make a cheap joke out of her and he just makes her seem cheap." He huffed, facing his pointed nose to the window.

Arty blinked at Steven, never having seen him this upset before. Arty didn't mean to make a joke out of it; he just was insecure about himself. He wasn't handsome, only around 5 foot 8 inches, Jack and Steven towered over him. They were the handsome ones while he was more of the chubby best friend type, the foul-mouthed wise guy that had an overly dirty mind. He admired the others for their confidence as well as lived vicariously through them, which included Jack's stories.

He was shocked by Steven's action, the red head was fire at times but he never was spitting mad at him before. Something just had his friend on edge today. But what was different about today? He then knew what it was. Helen came back today. Steven was in love with Helen and that was the problem. Because Steven as well as everyone knew that Helen was in love with Jack.

"Hey, I got an idea." Arty tried to calm Steven. "Since we know that the only reason why Helen is back and Kate and you are being shipped to Scotland is because it is probably the changing of the guard, we should see if there is a pub open on a night like tonight and get plastered. After all, the body isn't going to get up and walk away and you will be leaving in a few days. We may never get to see each other again so let's go get sauced." He pulled out another cigarette and handed it to Steven.

Steven looked at Arty and saw compassion in his round face. He realized that Arty the smart one had figured out what his heart was telling him. Yes he loved Helen and this changing of the guard concept had him worried that he would be spending the rest of his life in Scotland since he survived Wales, he was moving on. "Ten years I have been here and they transfer me because I'm still alive. Kate as well, and we get to stay alive. To think that even death didn't stop us from working here. I remember when Jack brought me in and said that I could back out now because there was a good chance I wouldn't make it through my first year. Of course I said 'why do you think I will quit?' to which he replied, 'no I think you will die.'" They both laughed as Arty started the car.

"I got the same speech. I wonder if he uses that on the girls?" Steven looked out the window again; he knew what line Jack used on the girls and the boys he could get away with that kind of talk. He thought about how Helen just melted when Jack said things. It made him sick. It was better when Helen was gone. At least then Steven could start to like Jack again, but now… Some things just weren't meant to be.

_End part 2 TBC_


	3. Chapter 3

The boy was just about frozen when Jack returned an hour later. Helen heard the cog door open rather loudly compared to the spooky hum of the machinery. With a quick flash of what looked like a tall ice creature covered in fresh snow, Jack ran past her coatless with the bundle in his arms. She followed the wet mess of melted snow and ice foot prints leading the way to the medical bay.

Jack shook himself off, making a "burring" sound as he placed the bundle on the table. This place always felt cold to him, mainly since it was used for dissecting dead things and not much of a place to warm a little child. He smiled as if he had an idea. He left his coat on the table as he lifted the boy up in his arms. Helen was in the doorway watching.

"I forgot that the others will be back soon with those dead bodies and the thing that killed them. This wouldn't be the best place for him to wake up. He is frozen but I don't think he has frostbite. Could you get some blankets and the medical kit and meet up in Phil's office?" He didn't smile at her, just walked out before she had a chance to answer.

It was so Jack to take work so mechanically. The boy in his arms was just part of that work without the need to invest feelings. Jack could be so cold in person when he was in the middle of an investigation. Personal feelings were shelved and human interaction put away while he did his job. That was one of the reasons Helen had left. She remembered the first time he had died right in front of her, so soon after they became lovers. But he came back to her with a gasp as if he fell back into himself. That was the oddest thing, it took Jack a few moments to understand where he was and then he kissed her as if she was all that mattered. She cried that night when he seemed to be asleep confused as ever about him and not quite knowing how to love him. Once he explained the why of it she still stayed on course and fell deeper in love with him. But that first painful revelation about him never did fade all together, it was somehow still there and she knew it always would be.

She didn't let the fact that she would age and he more of less wouldn't stand in the way of their relationship. From what she gathered others in the past had. And it hurt her to see that pain in his eyes when he came to her after his first death afraid she would scream, run or refuse him. She couldn't do either, she worked for Torchwood and this was just one of those things that happened in the vastness of time and space. So despite that one time she cried, she stayed with him not shedding another tear over the situation.

He seemed happy that she stayed with him and they grew inseparable. But that didn't mean he didn't grow cold, or the better term reserved when there was a problem outside of the bedroom. He had that look on, the working Jack face that meant he didn't just bring the boy in out of the cold; he needed the boy for something. And it was that cold persona that had chased her away, the fact he could love her one-minute and kill, harm or cage someone or something the next and not bat an eye. She didn't find that appealing in a lover, not even in someone like Jack who at times she felt was easy to love.

She gathered the things he wanted and joined him in Phil's office. She giggled a bit at the thought of how her boss would handle having a guest staying in his private space. But Jack was right; the boy more than likely had seen the victims killed in front of him so he didn't need to relive that reality upon waking up.

She knocked out of habit on the door before entering. "Phil should be warned of this," she spoke, watching Jack carefully remove the boy's wet clothes. "They are stuck in the storm and it is slow work getting home. Arty and Steve said their car was stuck but somehow I don't believe them from the pub sounds I heard on the other end of the phone. Sometimes I think they have no mind for work." She reached for one of Phil's extra shirts that he kept clean hanging on the hook near the door. Hands full, she went to Jack who as of yet seemed to have not noticed she was even there.

He was studying the boy, particularly the thing he held in his right hand. The small hand had a tight almost death grip on the object that was jutting out, the sides being bigger than his hand. It was shiny black, smooth in appearance to the eye but didn't seem to be anything special at first glance. Jack turned the hand over prying at the fingers as he tried to get the boy to let go of it. The boy must have felt his hand being tampered with and moaned his discontent in his sleep, shifting his body away from Jack and tucking the hand under his back. The boy was shivering then as the air touched his naked skin.

Helen pushed Jack away then. "He is freezing and whatever that is he doesn't want you to have it. So move and lets get him warmed up before he gets a fever and we have to nurse a sick boy back to health." She knelt by the boy and began to put Phil's white shirt on him. He didn't struggle for her as she lifted him up, placing the shirt under him, but let the right arm go limp as she pulled the shirt over it. A quick glance told her he had some scars on his back. "He was beaten by the look at those scars."

"Not odd, he must have parents and fathers do that." Jack as he stood back entranced by her gentleness with the boy.

She followed what Jack said as she checked for any other visible wounds. She found some bruising normal for boys about his age but nothing that stood out. She made a mental note to ask Kate to have a better look at him. She wasn't the doctor here that was Kate's job by default since the death of the last doctor. Kate was just a nurse with army hospital training who somehow got involved in Torchwood. But sometimes they all did a little bit of everything being overworked with cases and understaffed one picked up a thing or two or a hundred, making for an interesting job resume.

Jack went for the blankets that Helen put on the floor next to Phil's sofa at the same time Helen did and their hands met for a moment. It sent a little electrical charge through the both of them. Jack beat her to the first blanket, placing it over the boy. Helen with a little rose touching her cheeks from the shock of Jack's hand watched as Jack carefully placed the cover over the boy. For a second she thought she saw a flicker of something unforeseen in Jack's eyes and face. Just for that one second it was as if something reminded Jack of another thing but it vanished quickly.

As the second blanket, a heavier navy woolen one went over the boy Jack tucked him in as Helen spoke. "I never thought to ask you this, but did you ever have kids?" She didn't think that was the reason for Jack's reaction a few seconds before. Whatever it meant it was deeper, like something he had buried and just about forgot.

He didn't react at first as he stared at the boy. To Helen his reaction seemed as if he had simply mentally gone somewhere else. Finally he turned to her with a smile. "The ones I know of I never stayed in touch with. Better to think they had a deadbeat Dad than a father that can't die. It was odd that sometimes I died just to end the relationship with their mothers. Poor, dears, I can't imagine how much they suffered but in the end it was far better to lie about a death then to have them know the truth. Not everyone is able to understand that the world isn't what he or she thinks it is and not everything in it belongs here. I really don't like to be the victim of religious superstition, but it happens." He leaned in, smoothing back the boy's hair and checking to see if he had begun to warm up or if he was too hot, meaning the exposure had given him a fever. Satisfied that he was fine Jack turned to leave Phil's office with Helen right on his heels leaving the medical kit behind.

She didn't know how to respond to his answer. The Jack she left for London wasn't this cynical. But then again he never really shared many emotions with her. "You know one of the reasons I left besides the chance to work in the main headquarters was your lack of ability to share yourself with me." She smirked as he spun around on the stairs to catch the expression on her face.

He smiled back as if he already knew that. "The world is give and take, dear heart, we can't all live up to what one wants of us." He continued back down the stairs, hands in his pockets that were damp from the early walk coatless in the snow. "I need to change. Get on the phone and get Arty and Steven back here with those bodies. I need the thing here so I can try to figure out where it came from." He walked out of the main floor and went to the medical bay.

Helen sighed as he watched him puff up with his orders before he vanished to change. She had thought of following him and giving him a piece of her mind. But the thought of him undressing just was too much for her right now and his mixed signals were starting to bother her. "Did I come all the way back to baby sit him? That is what Phil wants, right? Someone to make sure he doesn't forget we are still dealing with the human element here."

She adjusted her skirt while she made her way to the communication area to call Arty at the pub. The one thing that was neat about Torchwood was its ability to do things the world outside just couldn't or as Jack would say, couldn't do yet. She didn't need the number he was at, the computer system humming away flashing its lit up panel at her would do it for her. Jack called it "tracing the call." So a simple push of a button, typing in "find" on the equipment's keyboard and presto, she had the pub on the phone. While it was ringing she mused at what that future would be like that Jack occasionally let slip out about while they cuddled after sex. He was so full of wonder, a glow in the low light chatting about this invention, that wonder and most of all traveling the stars and even through time.

Time travel she knew existed from working a long time with Torchwood. But heading to London gave her an insight on just why Torchwood was started. It was something that even Jack didn't talk about. For a man that let slip out that he was from the future after some amazing sex to not talk about the origins of the very place he had spent decades working at seemed a bit odd. She found one name that led Torchwood to form and that was an alien Time Lord named The Doctor. At some point while she was back Helen thought on asking Jack if he ever met the Doctor that is if he ever let her back into his personal space.

The pub's owner informed her that he had kicked his patrons out into the storm "like the right bastard" his reputation as of this night said he was. He also told her that they were rather drunk. She thanked him and was hanging up to the sound of the cog doors opening.

"We thought it had stopped so headed back but it let loose again and now I think there is more snow than anything. I would love some coffee." Phil shook the snow off his coat, hanging it near the coal heater by the door. His wet graying hair was plastered on his head, making his hair look thinner than it was. He glanced at the two women with his wonderful gray eyes. Kate was on his right who had jumped on the heater as soon as she got her coat off and was scowling her little plump face at him. He looked towards Helen pleadingly.

"Oh all right, just tell Jack you're back and I hope you have something to play with. He is very nasty, not having key components in this investigation at his fingertips." Helen paused, waiting for Phil to say something about the absence of Arty and Steven.

He blew warm breath on his hands before he tucked them under arms against his narrow torso. "Didn't they come back yet? Wait let me guess, they got stuck in the snow in front of a pub. Christ, like I don't have enough to worry about. We have the thing Jack stopped and frankly it is scary as hell. The little boy didn't come back to the church." He started for the stairs behind Helen's shapely form. Helen had nice curves and in a way he was very jealous that Jack got to her first.

Phil just wasn't the same since his wife passed and he had started the affair with the Prime Minister's wife. He wanted something closer but work didn't really allow for relationships. There were only the ones that one worked with that would really understand, like his wife. She had been an operative and was killed in the line of duty, as was Jack that day. It was then that Phil started to mistrust Jack just a little, being a loose cannon of sorts. After all he could take the risks, leaders of Torchwood Three were all briefed about Jack's special talent, it was Jack that just forgot sometimes that mere humans could die and they usually did around him.

But then Jack got involved with Helen and they were both very happy. Phil on the other hand wasn't happy about it; he just kept seeing his wife's cold form in their morgue morph into Helen. So he worked out a transfer for her and made sure Jack didn't hear about it. Phil hoped that was one secret he would take to his grave.

He was also very grateful of Jack's gift since it did save his life once. It also gave Jack certain flexibility during undercover work that Phil didn't have with his other team members. If they needed a corpse or someone to die to test loyalty for some situations, Jack was that person. If they needed that corpse to rise and do some covert work, Jack was the one for that. He was easy to place and had skills to move quietly around most situations. If it weren't for his lack of caring for his fellow teammates, Phil would say Jack was the best in all of Torchwood and should be working at Torchwood One. But Jack seemed content to bide his time under the streets of Cardiff. Phil hoped that the man had a good reason for wasting his talents in Wales.

"Before you go off to make the coffee, now that we are out of earshot of Kate, is this alright with you? I mean is working with Jack going to be a problem? I should have thought this out, but I needed someone that would watch him. I think you figured that out all ready. And frankly it had to be someone he would listen to. I just hope it isn't opening up that can of worms again with you two. I should have thought about it before sending for you."

She studied him for a bit trying not to laugh. He knew what he did, he just didn't have anyone else to call and he knew she wouldn't say no at the request. She missed the place and somewhere inside she missed Jack. "Phil, no worries, really, I have gotten over him." She half lied, she was just about over him. The problem was Jack nearby wasn't helping the over half, it was meeting up with the not over half and making for some pretty serious thoughts.

"Good!" He clapped his hand on her shoulder like she was a war buddy and turned to his office. "I'll take my coffee in there so I can dry my feet and put them up." She grabbed hold of him. "What?" He asked looking into her soft eyes and prayed he wasn't giving away the fact he was getting a little excited by her touch.

"_They're all the same."_ She laughed to herself. "You can't go in there. You distracted me with all the other questions so I forgot to mention that Jack went out in the storm and brought the boy back. He is asleep in there. We thought it best." _"What is it with the we?"_ She asked herself as Phil nodded to her.

"Good, the boy is safe. Father Andrew was worried when we told him about seeing the little boy run after he hit one of my agents. We didn't recton the good Father it just didn't seem necessary. I should give him a call and let him know the boy is fine" He watched her for a moment, more in control this time.

"I'll bring your coffee down to you if you ask Kate to come up and have a look at the boy. I have the medical kit in your office. We didn't get a chance to examine him." She didn't like the way he looked at her then. To her it was as if Phil thought she and Jack had been fooling around while the others were out. It was Phil that brought back Jack to the Hub and left her with him. She brushed it off as him just being creepy in an over caring way. She left him standing there and headed to the kitchen.

At one point she hoped that one of the women's jobs in Torchwood wouldn't be to make coffee and serve these men. She hoped that a man would take that job away. After all, someday according to Jack, women would get equal rights and equal pay, but that could just be Jack giving her a bit of hope that a smart woman would someday come out on the top rung of the ladder that men had built.

* * *

><p>Kate rubbed her long black hair with a towel. She was looking in the mirror of the locker room when she caught Jack behind her just standing there. "God, you gave me a fight!" She turned around, still drying her hair. He was so handsome that she told him once he should go back to America and be in the movies. He laughed at her back then, she was the new kid and her eyes seemed so big. Blue, they were very blue and Jack seemed to like that. She didn't have a crush on him like so many males or females seemed to have. She was more the asexual type, not finding the need for sex. But that didn't mean she didn't admire handsome, and he was handsome. And scary, sometimes he was just very scary. Like right now he was just staring at her, not blinking.<p>

Then he smiled and started to laugh. "You are still so cute when I frighten you. So what did you find out?" Right to the point, not caring if she was trying to warm up and dry off.

She was around 26 and the best nurse there was. She was also a fast learner and handled some of the more delicate equipment the Hub had. She also was good with the inmates of the place, seeming to be a calming element. The Weevils judging by their reaction didn't like Helen, snarling every time she came near. Kate they liked so she took on the project of caregiver to them, a job Helen didn't mind not getting. But Helen did mind that Kate was given more challenging work because of her background. Helen was a translator or the term spook was better. She worked in intelligence during the war and was hired right after by Phil, under Jack's request. Helen was only 20 at the time and Kate never did find out why Jack insisted to Phil that he hire Helen. So she just let the whole thing go. For the most part she just didn't care. But judging the way Jack took Helen under his wing and made her his special project; Kate could guess just why Jack was interested.

Kate knew that in 1942 why she was hired before she was let go of the army. The reason was that Kate had witnessed many dead soldiers get up and walk. Jack and Phil showed up with the old team, all of them long gone from this world and were able to remove the alien parasites that were making the dead walk. She helped the team and her skills impressed them as well as her attitude, so she was hired. Every so often she thought of the team that had passed.

Steve was hired a few months after her when he was rejected by the military for being near sighted with vision much poorer in the left eye than the right. But like Helen and Arty there was no clear-cut reason why Jack requested them. It was just weird.

And weird fit Jack very well in the way he was staring at Kate. "Stop staring like that, you are just eerie sometimes. Father Andrew said he was trying to get the boy into the church. Hey get rid of that look, Father Andrew is a good man."

"What look? I didn't imply anything in that look, that was your own thoughts about men of the cloth and little boys. Someday they won't be able to hide what they do. And no man is good all the way. But who the boy is I don't care about, the thing that was after him, on the other hand, that is what I care about" To Kate he seemed bored talking to her, something she couldn't stand in him, like he just couldn't be bothered with anything she ever said to him.

"Are we going to argue morals or am I going to finish my story?" He waved his hand at her to continue. "Thank you. Let me see. The boy, his name is Aden and he is an orphan. But there was nothing odd about him today. So whatever happened it was right before the first two murders. Father Andrew knew nothing of the thing that attacked him. He said he never saw it before, and I believe him there. Did you find the stone?"

"He has it tightly in his hand. I was trying to pry it out and it didn't work as it started to fuse to his skin, so I was wondering…" He was slapped before he got his words out.

She knew where it was heading; this happened the last time an unwilling victim of the Rift didn't let go of something. She was forced to do something for the safety of them all and that she didn't want to ever do again. "I will not mutilate that little boy unless I have to and I'm not cutting his hand off just so things go faster for you, Jack!" She stormed away, forgetting all about her wet clothes.

He blinked at her before the sound of singing coming up the hallway distracted him from Kate's outburst. "Women!" He said before going to help Arty and Steven bring in the bodies. By the sound of the singing he could only assume they were drunk.

End chapter 3

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

The singing grew louder as Jack came upon the duets' out of key performance. They were pushing gurneys with two of victims covered in sheets. Jack smiled and went passed them going to get the other remains out of Phil's vehicle.

"You are such a smug bastard!" Steven shouted at him, breaking up the song.

"Hey, you ruined the song," Arty complained. He sensed Jack's eyes on the two of them and he gulped. "He is watching us."

Steven laughed, turning his head around to find Jack glaring. "So the smug bastard is watching now. See anything you like, stud? Or have you been sampling the women again; well one woman I should say?" He waited for Jack to say something.

Jack didn't, he just turned around again and headed to the carport. He didn't have time for Steven's problems or drunkenness right now. He had to find out what the thing was that the little boy had so tightly taken hold of.

"Yeah that's it tough guy, just keep walking. Why not just keep walking out the door and away from here, you piece of shite!" He spit sloppily at the air almost hitting Arty.

Arty began to sweat as he heard Jack's foot falls stop. "Now you've done it," Arty whispered.

"Do you have a problem with me, Steven? Because the last time I looked I outrank you, so if you want to make trouble, make my day. I have been dying to write you up, take away your little cushy retirement and maybe send you to hang with UNIT for a bit. Did you know they also have a high casualty rate, especially when the Doctor is concerned? And the Doctor spends a lot of time with them." His hands were placed on his hips waiting for Steven to come after him.

Steven just laughed again. "Oh so sorry, Captain. Ask me if I care. You think you have this rank, but it is fake isn't it, Jack?" He turned around now, moving closer towards Jack as Arty moved towards the Hub's main room, taking his gurney with him.

Arty sighed and turned his head at the sound of Steven sprinting for Jack. "Here we go again, and I was hoping for a nice quiet Christmas this year."

He found Steven had managed to reach Jack rather quickly, leveling a series of punches at Jack's head and face. Jack reeled from the blows but stood his ground when Steven took a defensive stance, waiting for Jack's counter assault. Steven liked this non-fighting Jack when it seemed Jack wasn't going to engage him. With the next pounce Steven proceeded to beat on Jack with full fury. Jack back off, leveling a dangerous look at Steven who, confident he would win this fight, started to hop around waiting for another shot at Jack.

Arty had witnessed that look with Jack before, and it didn't end well for the recipient, so he did the only thing he could do. He went to get Phil.

"She doesn't deserve you, Jack. All you want is to take all they have and then you just leave them empty. Can you see that she loved you, but left? Now you think you can just romance her back into bed." He danced around, hoping the taunting would off balance Jack, launching him straight into Steven's awaiting fists.

Jack just calmly responded. "Wait, I'm confused here, is this about Helen? What are you talking about, Steven? Nothing happened here." Before Steven could answer, with a lightning fast move, Jack slammed Steven straight in the jaw, making him reel around from the hard blow. It didn't stop him; he regrouped his rage and went right for Jack's stomach, knocking the wind out of Jack.

"She doesn't love you any more, just let her be." He said before delivering a second punch in the same spot.

The wind knocked out of him gave Jack a moment to think on what had trigged Steven to attack him. He had a feeling as soon as he took an interest in Helen way back when that Steven had had some feelings for her. When Helen left they were almost friends like Steven had needed someone around him who also felt Helen's absence. Now Jack saw rage in the eyes of this man, hate for him with every pound of the fist. And all this was because Steven must think that they had just run back into each other's arms. There was no truth in that, but that didn't mean that the feelings were dead.

"Sparks, Steven, leftover burning ash that just doesn't want to burn out. But it isn't enough to build a fire on, trust me, it just isn't enough." Steven grabbed at Jack's waist, pulling tightly with a rib cracking bear hug. Despite his drunken state Steven had a huge amount of strength, really crushing a few of Jack's ribs causing him to cry out.

Jack's pain didn't seem to stop Steven who said in a voice loud enough for Jack to hear over his own cries. "That is how you feel, but what about Helen? Does she share this with you or are you going to lead her on this time, breaking her heart like she did yours?" He sent an upper jab to the ribcage, sending Jack to his knees. Seeing Jack in that position Steven sent a blow to the face with enough force to knock Jack backwards.

He lay there waiting to see what Steven would do. "This just isn't my day!" He laughed until it hurt. Steven could be heard standing over him mumbling something unrecognizable until Jack heard a moan. Steven's knees buckled, sending him crashing to the ground. "The bigger the ass, they are the harder they fall." Jack tried to laugh but he suddenly felt sleepy so he closed his eyes and joined Steven in the land of nod.

* * *

><p>"Damn it Phil, lock him up! He just asked me to remove the kid's hand! I'm sorry, but he seems to forget that these are humans we are dealing with sometimes." Kate pushed her hair behind her ears, waiting for Phil to say something. She huffed, moving her hands to her hips.<p>

"He can be a bit unorthodox at times, but he was right the last time. Then again, we should at least wait until the boy wakes up before we do anything." He tried to smile but having Helen holding a hot cup a coffee he wanted and Kate's eyes smoldering in anger he was a little nervous around the pair right now.

The mood was broken when Arty rounded the corner, screaming that Jack and Steven were fighting and it was pretty bad.

"Oh great, what else is going to happen today? Helen, give me my coffee please and then could you please check on the boy? Kate and Arty with me and please Kate don't get it in your head to castrate Jack, it isn't worth it and I need him the way he is. God, it is almost Christmas, can't we have a little peace on Earth or at least among the defenders of Earth?" He grumbled as he went to see the mess his agents were in.

Kate and Arty followed at a slower pace hanging back from their leader. Kate whispered. "I bet it was over Helen. I knew that the minute Steven saw she had come back earlier today that he was going to snap. All these years he has been in love with her and Jack just slides in to home before he has the bat out of the case."

"You know, I'm going to miss your nonsense baseball terms in relation to human interaction." He belched at her. "And I need to be drunker right now to even understand what you just said. But I think I get it. Yes, Steven said as much tonight. He is hopeless in love as Helen is blinded by Jack's infinite burning flame. He will never get her." He felt bad that his words were more or less true. "_Steven will be holding a torch that Helen will never light."_ Arty shook his head clearing away the bad metaphors before he smothered in them. With a smile he returned to Kate who was knitting her eyebrows at him.

"I hate when you go off into your inner monologue. You want to bet on that? I just know that by the time this case is solved Helen and Steven will be on their way to being married." Kate smirked, flouncing her hair over her shoulders.

"Steak dinner on the loser?" He held out his pinky with a smile. She linked hers with his and smiled back.

"You are so on."

"And you two are fired, if you don't hurry up. Some days I think I'm surrounded by five year olds." Phil ran his hand over the top of his head, pulling a few strands out. He looked at them for bit before he continued. "And I'm losing my hair because of all of you."

* * *

><p>The boy mumbled in his sleep while his legs moved back and forth like he was running. Helen was pleased that the color had returned to his skin and that he still didn't have a fever. But now he was having a nightmare. That could mean the beginnings of a fever.<p>

"Hey, there, Aden is it? You are safe now, no need to run." She smoothed the hair out of his eyes taking in his face. He was cute, dirty with smudges here and there giving him a lost boy Dickens' look. His hair was uncut, long for his age and it had the oddest blond streaks woven in with the brown base of his hair color. He was adorable she mused as she smiled, her hand brushing his cheek in comfort. She tucked the blanket tighter around him as his eyes opened widely. He struggled to get out of the blankets.

She noticed his distress, placing her hands calmly on his small arms to calm him. "You are safe, Aden. Don't worry, things will be okay." He stopped moving and blinked at her as the warmth found him, leading him back into sleep. Now that he calmed down she saw a chance to wipe down his face a bit. The only think she had was some witch hazel in the medical kit. She frowned, not liking the smell. Retrieving the towel inside the bag she gently cleaned his face, hoping the smell didn't wake him.

Helen swiped the cloth one last time with the title of her head. He really needed a haircut but his face did look much better, all neat and clean. The boy snored, indicating he would be out for a while. Questioning him, thankfully, would be some time off. She wasn't looking forward to watching Jack at that time. He wasn't nice even to little children if he felt they were hiding something. Deep down she knew it was part of the job, but she had a human side, which returned to her when she started at Torchwood One. They at least knew how to use some kindness, something Torchwood Three forgot about.

Helen stood, stretching her back out a bit and debating if she should go find out if Steven and Jack were in one piece or if she should stay by the boy for a bit. The boy won because right now the last thing the little guy needed was to wake up in a strange place alone. She grabbed a chair and a book off of Phil's desk and moved it next to the sofa. But before she got settled she removed the blanket to see if Aden still held on to his prize. She noted he still had a tight hold on it and covered him back up again, tucking in the corners so he stayed warm. Then she sat down, opening the book to the first page.

* * *

><p>"Jack, I don't want to hear it, Steven was drunk and if he is written up I'll do it myself." Phil snorted before he reached for the legs of the woman while Jack took the shoulders.<p>

Steven was snoring on the cold metal of one of the examination tables while Jack and Phil finished loading up the woman's body on the table next to him. "Phil you have to understand, Steven has an erratic personality. This morning we had breakfast together and then he tried to beat the daylights out of me. And though that is a turn-on, being dined and then punched, somewhere in the past I would have considered that foreplay. I don't think it was in good fun and he really put this investigation to a halt, wasting time, resources and maybe lives."

Arty coughed after Jack said lives. "Like that concerns you. I kind of remember your actions more than once being a little on the wasting life end at times. Jack, we all get a little concerned when it is our lives on the line. Steven has a reason for it, maybe just listen to it." Arty's fat cheeks flushed a bit at his frankness towards Jack.

Jack regarded Arty for a moment, making the other man squirm a bit. He didn't like to draw attention to himself at all and right now Jack was focused in on him like it was the first time he saw him. Or maybe the look was more like having prey in sight.

To Arty's surprise Jack smiled as he responded. "You are right, Arty, I'll take some things that were said into consideration. Now if you will excuse me, there is work to be done and we have lost enough time on this. I think Phil wants to wrap this one up by Christmas, which is by my watch in two days." He winked at Phil.

He left the room alone, taking a gurney with him. So far today Jack mused, he had succeeded to piss everyone off around him today. He didn't think the fight with Steven was much of a bother but it just cost valuable time with the investigation. There was a boy clutching some alien thing in his hand that was valuable enough to send out a Hunter Seeker after it. The point was that something bigger, meaner and more deadly could be on its way through the time stream after that black shiny stone-like thing. And if there were deaths before, there would be deaths again. Unless they figured out how to send it back or whatever led the Hunter here to stop emitting its signal. They could destroy it. If the little boy ever let go of it, that is. Jack suspected that it had fused onto the boy's hand by now, making the suggestion to Kate earlier a better option to dealing with the danger than waiting for more things to storm in here, killing all in their path.

He knew his choices in the past had those working with him not trust him all the way. He was used to that type of treatment. They didn't believe in him enough to follow his lead. But he knew that type of thinking cost lives. The human element in this group was very strong. He didn't remember all the years in Torchwood past as many kind hearts as he had here in this group. It was ten years since Kate joined and she still would question his decisions. In a way he didn't blame her. She had to remove a man's leg while he was awake to stop the alien from taking him over. Jack could still hear the man's screams and the look in his face as, with Arty's help, they held him down.

He hated things like that, although he was used to the blood and gore and he did things himself to others that he wasn't proud of. But sometimes you had to give the jobs to others best qualified and after Torchwood's last doctor Stewart's death; Kate was the next best thing to a doctor. So the task fell on her. But she didn't have to make Jack out as the monster, that anger should be reserved for the things the Rift seemed to bring them that loved to feed on those around them. Jack was just a soldier in this war that never seemed to end. At least not for him because he would never know that peace brought on by death that his fellow teams would.

Kate hated Jack because the man didn't live; his heart had stopped from shock. "There could have been another way!" She had yelled as Arty wrapped up the leg in one bag with the worm-like alien still crawling around and sucking blood out of its dying flesh. It didn't live long after that proving Jack's method to be worth it for the most part.

Jack tried to reach out to Kate as she started to cry. But she had screamed, pushing him away and telling him never to come near her again; that he was not human to her anymore. He backed off, finishing the cleanup of the blood on the floor of the warehouse they were in while Arty held Kate in his arms. Since she was in a state of shock he took her back to the Hub, leaving Jack to bag the man's body and wipe the place clean of anything alien.

That was then and Kate still talked to him now but they never brought that day up when they did talk. Jack wanted to say he was sorry, but Phil thought it was best to just let it go. Phil was always smart like that; he knew from years of running Torchwood that some things just needed to be let go so they could move past it.

Jack saw how wrong he was for making that same suggestion to her. But it still didn't make what he asked any less of a necessary. If he couldn't figure out another way that boy just may need to have the same thing done to him. This time it would be in the Hub in the medical bay so the boy should pull through without feeling it.

He was thinking on this as he pulled the Hunter Seeker out of Phil's car and onto the gurney. It seemed smaller than the thing that he had neutralized. That could mean two things. The snow didn't give Jack a clear image of it and he thought it was bigger before he was knocked out. Or the thing may have shrunk after it was shut down. Either way, he needed an uninterrupted hour he hoped to get so he could figure out how the thing worked and find out what the thing was that the boy was holding.

He stopped when he saw Helen standing in the hallway. She was so beautiful and very distracting at the moment. "Are you next on the beat up Jack parade?" He smirked, seeing her face flush.

"Aden is a wake. He isn't talking but his eyes are open. Kate is looking him over. I thought you would like to know." She moved over to the gurney, curious to its occupant. "Is this what was hunting him?" She reached out to touch it letting her hand hang over the thing for a little bit before it dropped down to caress the smooth metal. "It isn't cold. It is warm too warm for being outside in this snow storm." She observed.

He went for her hand, scared that the thing would wake, taking her life somehow. But it was more, he was getting excited watching her hand touch the metal, running her delicate fingers over its casing. So his hand went for hers but he didn't remove it, just rested it on top of hers allowing both of them to go over the metal. He looked at her smooth skin on the nape of her neck and leaned in, pulling his body closer to hers. She didn't run; just let him rub up against her as she kept her hand moving over the metal in study.

He wanted more; he needed more as he leaned in, placing a soft kiss on her neck. A small gasp escaped her and she took her hand off the thing, turning towards him. "Do you want this?" She asked.

He couldn't answer because as soon as the last syllable died from her voice he had her lips and was kissing her.

End Chapter 4

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

The light was warm, warmer than he had ever been. He like this floating feeling, it made him feel safe, like he hadn't before. No hands touching him, doing things he didn't like, even if they did give him money or a free meal, it hurt so much. She gave him love, like his mother he barely remembered, that same feeling that he mattered and there was no pain. That was until Mary died, like his mother, gone from him and he was alone and they would keep hurting him. But not now not in this warmth or in this light would he hurt. The woman said her name was Kate. Aden liked her hair; it was very long and black, tied up in a ponytail that swished around her head when she moved. She smiled at him, showing dimples on either side of her mouth while saying that if he didn't like anything she did, to tell her. She explained that she was a nurse; her job was to make sure he was well and she needed to examine him. She even asked if he knew what examine meant, he told her he did; it was nice to be asked his thoughts for once. He didn't mind her touch; it was gentle with lots of care and compassion. He felt safe with her so he relaxed while she did her job.

She went for his hand for a moment, checking the stone he held. He didn't feel threatened like he did with the two men that were now dead. But he did feel a little worried when she seemed to frown when she couldn't remove it from his hand. He saw it then, his flesh had started to grow around the stone. He didn't want to see it, so he turned his head away, closing his eyes tight like he did for all things that bothered him.

"Hey, don't worry, Aden, you are going to be fine." Kate patted his hand, placing it down next to his body. She turned to the pad next to her and began to make some notes. The first was the skin attaching to the stone. The second was how warm the stone was to the touch like it was a heat source. She reached the medical kit and pulled out a stethoscope.

Aden felt the cold metal on his chest before he opened his eyes to go back to watching Kate checked his heart beat.

"Breathe in, breathe out, Breathe in, breathe out. Well done, Aden! Now if you could just stand up for a bit." Kate helped the boy stand before she moved away from him. "Now if you can touch your toes." He could but the look of the stone becoming one with his hand made him uneasy.

When Aden was done he raised himself up to wait for more instructions. He frowned a little, making it hard for Kate to read his emotions then. At least he wasn't coming across as scared. But he didn't seem grateful or happy either, just accepting of the whole thing. "Now can you close your eyes and touch your finger to your nose, right hand first, then left." He did with not so much as a wobble even with the stone still in his hand. Kate did note that he didn't touch the stone to his face.

There was a knock at the door, the sound making Aden's eyes fly open. Phil stood in the door carrying a tray. Aden gulped a little, suddenly seeming uncomfortable in front of Phil. "I brought lunch. It isn't much; we only had some tomato soup, beans and toast. I hope this storm ends soon or we will run out of food."

He put the tray down on his desk. Aden was looking at him, soft brown eyes taking in Phil and then the tray. He licked his lips while his stomach growled. "Well go ahead, Aden, it is for you." Kate said as the boy hesitated.

He walked to Phil's chair looking up at Phil all the time. Phil moved away, backing over towards the door allowing Aden a clear path to the chair. "I'll be downstairs if you need me, Aden." The boy was sitting now, trying to figure out how to hold the spoon with his left hand. It didn't escape Phil how badly deformed the right hand looked. "Kate, a word please." Kate nodded following Phil outside and shutting the door behind her.

"How is he?" Phil asked, folding his thin arms over his chest bunching up his tweed jacket. "Is the hand..?" Even years as Torchwood's leader often found Phil without the correct words to say. He was glad his staff could fill in the blanks.

"He is healthy, even with the hand. I'll have Jack or Arty run a few other tests on the fusing of his flesh to the stone. I'm not going to jump to extremes because right now I don't see it as a threat to the boy's health. I would say the stone is using the boy for protection if you want to think of it like that. But we have a bigger problem with Aden. Did you notice how he reacted to you?" Phil put his hand to his chin and nodded. "He has been ill-treated and I'm not talking just beaten." She waited to see if Phil caught her meaning. This was a subject she hated talking about. It was bad enough there were still so many children lost out there after the war; it just wasn't fair that some of them had to be used in such a sick way.

Phil looked as if he was going to be sick. "So he must have thought Jack…. That means he doesn't trust men. Why didn't Father Andrew mention this when we asked him about the boy?" He didn't want to think that the good father… he shook his head, getting the thoughts out. The Father just may not know or didn't want to embarrass the boy. "Poor dear. Sometimes I think the monsters we deal with are better than the ones the Human race produces."

"That is what I was just thinking." She reached for her boss's hand as a sign of unity. "Did Steven wake up yet?" She asked letting go of his hand.

"No, not yet. Jack recovered; no big surprise there and Helen went to tell him that Aden woke up. I don't want you to fuel this anymore. I heard the bet with you and Arty. Kate, this isn't going to be easy for either one of them. Up until now I didn't know that Steven had feelings for Helen, otherwise I wouldn't have asked her back here. I just thought it would be nice to spend one more Christmas together before we go our separate ways." He didn't meet her eyes.

She blinked in surprise before replying. "You're not coming back? Jack and Arty are getting a whole new team and a new leader?" She seemed confused. "But why are you leaving?"

"It is my time I have been told. They want me in London with a big promotion. Don't tell Jack, but I just couldn't put him in charge. Jack just can't be trusted to take care of a team. Not yet anyway, he just has to work out some issues. But over all, he just seems to have another agenda, one that isn't about Torchwood. So even though I didn't want to, with Jack as his second, I passed the gavel to Arty."

Kate started to laugh. "Oh that is beautiful, but in a way I can see Arty being very good at this. Hey cheer up; we are all here for Christmas, except those that went before. Sometimes I think I can feel them here, watching us." She looked over her shoulder at the shadows in the near by corners where the light just didn't shine.

"Yes, I know what you mean. Thanks, Kate, for everything. We will save the hugs for eggnog and Christmas presents. Let me go find Jack and make sure he isn't feeding Steven to the Weevils!"

Kate laughed, turning to go back to her patient. She entered the room to see Aden licking the bowl and a very clean plate where the toast and beans had been. "I guess you want seconds?" She asked as he drained his cup of water. His face didn't smile but she could tell he was content. She went to get him more food and to her surprise he followed her.

His eyes seemed more trusting with her. This poor kid had had a rough time of it, she thought as she sat him down at the table. She couldn't help but notice him frown at his hand each time he went to look at it. She decided get one of her mittens for him when she went to get his clothes from the drying room downstairs.

"I'm going to check if your clothes are dry. Just eat up and I think I might have some chocolate around here for afterwards." To her surprise he smiled.

From the boy came a very small almost non-audible "thank you" as she walked away. It made her reflect about the human equation in this job. It had to fit in somewhere and there had to be a way to make a better life for this little kid. At least at this Christmas she wished more than ever for Santa to find his way through the Rift with a bag of fulfilled wishes. When she thought about people like Aden being dragged into Torchwood business through the Rift's unpredictability, her gift would be for Santa to come through it and close it down, ending all the chaos it caused.

As she walked around the consoles in the main room she passed the undecorated Christmas tree Jack had picked up this morning. It was now almost 11:00 pm. Christmas Eve in one hour and no decorated tree. "Same thing happened last year. But when the Rift opened then, it was a thing of beauty that came through. Maybe I should ask Santa to only let the good through the Rift instead of closing it forever. I wouldn't mind just the good.

* * *

><p>Jack dressed while watching Helen fix her skirt. He finished his buttons and went to her zipping up the back of her dress for her. His fingers rested on the zipper for a moment before he turned her around to fix her hair.<p>

"I missed you," he said without thinking.

"I can tell." She smirked, fixing his collar as she stood on tiptoes to reach his lips. He lifted her gently with the same goal in mind.

A throat cleared prompting Jack to put Helen down. They both looked at Phil, Helen blushing slightly at being caught like that and Jack as cool as can be returning to the gurney with the Hunter Seeker on it.

"Phil, I was just bringing this to the Medical Bay. Do you want to be there while I run the tests on it?" He pushed it passed his boss, making Phil turn around.

Phil shook his head. Jack just never got embarrassed or upset about things, he seemed to just do and not care what others thought. Helen was visibly caught off guard, leading Phil to believe that more happened than just a kiss. Though he wasn't surprised anymore. He just hoped that they stayed together this time. Some things were more important then saving the world from aliens. A life of happiness was on the top of that list.

"The boy is the greater concern," Phil said as Jack stopped moving. "The stone has fused with the flesh of the hand almost engulfing it in a skin cocoon of sorts. Kate says he is in no danger; it seems to be protecting it self. I need you to find out why it did that and if we can remove it from the boy without the means you suggested to Kate earlier."

Jack turned to face Phil, his face almost angry, blue eyes blazing. "Phil, I know that the boy is in danger and that stone is why. But if I don't figure out who and the how of this the thing that attacked him, there is a risk more of them may come, and I can't protect the boy then. So it is either I do this or I work on the boy? It isn't my fault Steven decided to be a drunken ass." He turned around again and began to push.

"Isn't it, Jack?" Phil let his anger for a change speak for him, walking right over to Jack. He was at his limits with Jack at the moment, something that rarely happened. Right now it was Jack's fault. He went ahead and let Steven fight him knowing that how Steven was feeling. "You have enough years on Steven to know how he is feeling and you could have shown a little compassion." Phil was in Jack's face now making Jack snort back, a little miffed at the intrusion into his personal space.

Helen stepped into the middle between them. "What is this all about?" She searched both men's faces for a clue.

It was Jack that broke the silence, it was after all something he knew when he took a liking to Helen. He knew Phil was just too polite to say it.

"Steven is in love with you. He has been since before you and I started to date. He is pissed that I still love you and he is determined to make sure he has a chance this time." He didn't wait to see her face; he didn't want to know what she felt. Leaving it in her hands, it now was up to her to choose. So as he pushed the gurney away from them both before he could catch the look in her eyes. He hoped she would run to him to say she wanted to be with him and only him.

She didn't go to him. She stood in the hall, too shocked to move.

* * *

><p>Arty moved Steven to the couch in the main room. It was preventive medicine keeping the two men apart. Jack would only make Steven feel worse when he woke up. Arty felt tired after the alcohol wore off. He was reading some concepts he thought fit the stone from past case files when he heard a moan from the couch. Steven sat up too fast and let out a cry, causing Arty to chuckle at his friend.<p>

"What hit me?" He asked.

"Jack did, but only after you picked a fight. Or and to set the record straight and to warn you, everyone knows why even Helen."

He didn't say anything. His face began to blush. He moaned again as he stood, making his way slowly and out of balance to the water cooler.

The cold water felt good as it washed away the taste of the still lingering whiskey and blood in his mouth. "Did she say anything?"

"She asked me to run tests on the Rift to make sure we had the correct readings for when the stone and the thing came through. I'm also going over some pictures of the boy's hand that Kate was able to get as well as a little past case reading. Phil was by chatting about how it would have been nice to actually have a decorated tree this year. Kate needs a mitten, and Jack has locked himself away in the medical bay." Steven looked annoyed as Arty continued. "But know she didn't say anything about you. Most of that was to bring you up to speed with the rest of us, Sleeping Beau." He laughed when Steven scowled at him.

Steven always scowled. Arty had this idea that Steven was by far one of the least happy of the Torchwood Three team. He once thought it was Jack, but Jack at least had a body-shaking chuckle that showed at times he did have a sense of humor. Steven just didn't, it was all tight-lipped protocol with him. But this reaction over Helen wasn't rational for a man that for the most part never lost his cool. Arty believed it was because Steven didn't have any cool to lose because he had never had a lover. He was as the American kids said, a square.

Phil was the best out of the bunch, a good leader that cared about his team. He always was in the middle of frequent fights, more with the men than the women. Some of the members that had passed used to get into horrible fights with Jack over his lone wolf tactics, leaving holes in the team when teamwork counted the most. Arty didn't have that problem with Jack, but watched as Jack broke ranks, leaving others in a weaker position. This at times had led to loss of life, not just within Torchwood Three but at the expense of the civilians they were supposed to protect.

There were times when others on the team would go to Phil and ask that Jack be removed. Phil just would listen and then throw a story at them about how Jack had saved his life. But Arty kind of knew the real reason. He had guessed it after seeing Jack come back to life. It was then Arty assumed that Jack was just one of those things that came through the Rift, maybe from some other place or some other time. Though Jack appeared outwardly human, he was not quite on the same plain as the others. He didn't mind cold-hearted sacrifice of life if it solved the problem. He knew that bothered Kate, after that time with the man and his alien leg. But Arty admired Jack; it took a lot to make the tough choices when no one else could. It made Arty think that Jack's war stories were true. The only thing that didn't make sense about Jack was that there were no records on him that he could access. He was in the files but just not the same as the rest of them. He seemed like a shadow, an image of someone once human or once alive.

"Do you remember that time that maniac pulled that gun on Jack and Phil?" Steven asked Arty, knocking him out of his thoughts.

"Yes, I do, why do you ask?" He saw a blip on the radar in front of him and waited for it to happen again before turning his attention on Steven.

"Jack took the bullet, it went clean through him. Then the lights went out because of the Rift playing with the electricity. The guy was fried, almost charred beyond recognition and Jack was standing covered in blood but no wound. Phil was looking at Jack like he saw a ghost. Jack laughed it off like nothing happened." He walked over to the tree and started to put the lights on.

"No one checked them yet." He pointed to the lights so Steven plugged them in first. Satisfied at with their glow Steven began to drape the multi color strand around the upper branches of the tree. "Steven, I'm not saying that wasn't odd, but it was also ill lit in that place and we had just come off of that gas the thing sprayed on us. I'm going with a Torchwood moment, things just didn't look right to the eye." Arty rubbed his chin, feeling the scrape of stubble he started to accumulate when he saw a flash on the screen. The blip returned just as the Rift alarm began to clang. "Damn, we have to come up with a quieter sound at some point. Put your anger away my friend and go get Jack. He is going to want to see this." Arty got on the phone to Phil's office to tell his boss that they have visitors.

* * *

><p>Phil was in his office making friends with Aden under Kate's supervision. The boy was charming, quiet but when he did speak he seemed smart. Aden also seemed more comfortable with the mitten on his hand; he barely took notice of it as he laughed at one of Phil's jokes while they played cards. Phil let the boy sit in his chair saying he was giving him the leadership of Torchwood.<p>

"What's Torchwood?" Aden asked, eyes bright waiting to hear what Phil had to say.

Phil coughed looking at Kate who just threw her hands up. He sighed, laying his next card down he said. "A secret group. Can you keep a secret, Aden?" The boy was grinning ear to ear, nodding his head. "We hunt aliens and things that go bump in the night." He took the card Aden just put down, throwing down another one.

"Like the thing that killed Mary?" The boy asked.

"Mary, that was her name. She was something special to you?"

"She took care of me," he said sadly. "She would stop them from hurting me. I just did it because I could have a place to stay and some money and food. It wasn't unlike what she did with men as well. But one of them really tried to hurt me. Somehow Mary found out where I was and threatened the man, using words I didn't know. I'm not that smart, not like some of those men." He was frowning.

Kate noticed Phil soften as he went to the boy. She tried to not cry herself from the sad story. But as Aden started to tear up, Phil was holding the boy. "Hey, it's okay, no one will hurt you now. I promise. You don't every have to do anything like that again."

Kate watched as Aden snuggled into Phil's arms. "You are a natural at this. Phil did you ever think…" Her words were silenced by something more important.

Aden jumped out of the safety of Phil's arms when the alarm sang out making him head under the desk. The phone rang on the top of the desk with an extra annoying buzzing sound.

"So much for trust with that damned thing. I hope Arty can come up with something softer in the future." She crawled under the desk with Aden. "You have the right idea. Mind if I join you?" She was glad she had as he snuggled next to her. The kid was making her feel things as well, oddly the feelings she had were for Phil. Suddenly her boss seemed like a man, a man she could relate to.

End Chapter 5

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

They collided together each heading in a different direction. One was heading away from Jack the other needed to find him.

"He is in the medical bay." Helen couldn't look at Steven. She felt her face flush slightly as she felt his breath hit her cheek. He was so close to her that she noticed his after-shave. It was musky, almost pleasant as it tickled her nose. She wondered how come she never noticed it before since they had worked together for years and this wasn't the first time she had been close enough to touch him.

Steven nodded, being afraid of what his voice would sound like to speak. He knew she knew how he felt. With her so close it became hard not to reach for her. As his hand went to pick up her chin, Jack cleared his throat and the pair broke up. Helen continued past Steven on her way to the main room.

"I take it we have company?" He asked Steven without a trace of jealousy in his voice.

"Not exactly. Arty sent me to get you." He looked right at Jack.

Jack's face was clean, not a mark on it. Steven wasn't so lucky; he had a black eye and some bruising on his face. "You alright?" Jack asked, suddenly concerned.

Steven scowled. "I can nurse my wounds later, we have work to do." He turned, heading back to the main room.

Jack half smiled at the man, understanding how professional Steven could be when he was a wounded animal. By now Arty must have told him that everyone knew including Helen, what he felt for her. Jack almost felt sorry for him, the man was stuck in this Twentieth Century way of looking at love that Jack just didn't share. Though even in his time some had accused Jack of being old fashioned, he had had two different lovers that had fallen for each other when introduced. Jack didn't mind sharing and it was fun for all involved.

But Steven wasn't his lover, though the man could throw a punch. But the thought of a threesome had him smiling by the time he reached the main room and Arty. He knew that Steven just didn't swing that way after having asked when Steven first started if he wanted to go out on a date. Steven blinked at Jack, laughing at the joke. It was months later that Steven found out that Jack wasn't joking. But Jack didn't force him so it was dropped. They were after all, a group that worked outside the norm of society so to each his own. And what Jack got up to was Jack's business.

Until that business concerned Helen. Strange how Jack, who was very good at spotting those lusting after each other, didn't notice Steven's love for Helen. This gave Jack some insight on Steven and he admired the man for being able to hide such a strong emotion for so long a time. Helen's return must have made that wall tumble. Somehow that made Jack feel at odds with both parties. He himself hadn't considered his own feelings now he had others to think about. This change of events, in his mind, could make things interesting.

"What do we have, Arty?" Jack asked in front of Phil. "Sorry, Phil." Jack smiled, seeing the irritation on his leader's face.

Arty chuckled from the little play in front of him before responding. "It seemed like a message, like something was searching for something and didn't find it."

Jack nodded. "I would think there is some concern that their hunter seeker hadn't reported back. Whoever is behind this is looking for their equipment." He went to Arty looking over the data over the man's shoulder.

"And that thing is here, so they know where it is." Arty closed his eyes trying to picture what the Hub would look like once that thing got done with it.

"We should move it then." Phil suggested.

"And the boy as well. The thing would have sent information back that it found the object and might have shown the boy as an obstacle in obtaining the stone." Jack suggested.

"We can't move the boy!" Helen yelled. "He is just a boy, we have to get the stone to let go of him." She pleaded with Jack as if he was the only one that could fix this without hurting the boy.

Phil cleared his throat making the others turn their faces his way. "I agree with Helen. Aden is a child and I rather like him now that I have had a chance to know him. His safety should come first. At least we should try to find a way to get him out of the equation, separating him from the stone with no damage to him." The last bit was added as he saw Kate walk down the stairs. He didn't want her to have to harm the boy.

Earlier when he was with Kate and Aden he had started to get thoughts. He never really noticed Kate before, not like a man notices a woman. But something in her laugh and the way she seemed to light up around the boy brought out memories from his life with his wife. They never had children, he had wanted a family but it never happened. But seeing Kate standing there gave Phil a thought he hoped wasn't being coerced by this Christmas season.

Jack watched his boss look at the staircase where Kate stood. He saw it then, that look that Helen had given him when they had first started their affair. Now he saw it on his boss and at a quick glance Steven beamed that same look at Helen. It was all starting to make sense to Jack. He suddenly had a plan.

"The boy is safe for now. However whatever probed us just now will be back. But I have an idea. Arty, you are with me. Steven, I need you to go with Helen to archives and look for that book on Tolen Transmission waves. It should be under T and listed on the punch cards for its location. If I have this right, I maybe able to fix this within the hour and still have time to decorate the tree." He looked at the tree that the lights partly were wrapped around.

"Last I looked, I'm still leader of this team." Phil waved a finger at Jack.

"I know about the transfer, Phil. Torchwood One asked me some questions about you a few weeks ago. I have been around this Institute for a long time that they come to me at times for answers. I know how things go." He laughed at the astonished look on Phil's face.

"Jack…" Phil red faced began, but Jack held up his had to silence him.

"When things go back to normal we can discuss this. Why don't you go with Kate and get Aden dressed and bring him to me." Kate made a squeak in protest. Jack smiled up at her. "I promise Kate, I think what I have in mind will work and no harm will come to him. It is Christmas after all, have a little faith in the miracle of it!"

* * *

><p>Steven ran ahead of Helen, feeling too embarrassed to wait for her. He didn't like being thrown together like this. Jack must be testing Helen's loyalty. That must be it, he pondered, why else pair them off? Unless he just wanted to make a fool out of Steven, have Helen laugh in his face. He would never get a chance with her and Jack was smirking in his knowledge of that. Helen belonged to Jack. Helen should be with Jack.<p>

Turning around when he reached the door to Archives was a bad move. Helen looked so nervous, something he never saw in her before. She was cool, the best in the thick of things. Women in Steven's mind were never as calculating as Helen was in crises. That was what he liked about her. She stood out from not just her beauty but also her brains. Something she let fly out the window where Jack was concerned. But right now she seemed confused about something. So much so she held back from Steven waiting for him to open the door.

The door squealed in protest, reminding him to oil the hinges again. He forgot to since the last time he was here. So many bigger things got in the way of all the little things that needed to be done, he simple forgot about it. He made a mental note to at least put it on the small projects list as he flicked the lights on.

The warm glow of the brightly lit overhead lights set up in a chain around the room that was inviting in a place that always seemed haunted to Helen. She didn't like coming here. It was worse than the morgue to her. Of course Jack loved the place, often coming here he explained, to update or fix entries to make them more accurate. He also used it for research as they all did. But she didn't like the place even when he acted frisky, teasing her that she was being irrational, that ghosts the way she thought them to be just didn't exist. But to her it always seemed like Jack was looking for something more than what he came to find. She wasn't quite sure how to explain it; just that it was there behind the eyes, the thing that frightened her about him. That translated to her that no matter what, he would always be ahead of her. And she knew she could try but she would never catch up or be his equal and that just didn't settle right with her. She believed that in love, people should be equals. It didn't work that way with Jack, she was but a child to him and no matter how old she good she would remain that child.

What bothered her most was that she just gave into him again, playing into his wiles. It was that behavior that made her seem like a mortal to the God, she couldn't say no even after all this time. It was this lack of self control that angered her. She needed to take charge and live her life. She wanted love that didn't make her feel so damn bad while it made her feel good. She needed her feelings to be respected and to at least have them returned equally. She needed someone more realistic.

Steven was there right in front of her. She must have had a hundred different faces on as he watched her. She saw it then, all the things Jack could never be to her, Steven could be. But the most important thing they would grow old together.

Feeling a little cheap because she was with Jack not more than an hour before hand, she ran into Steven's arms.

He blinked, thinking he must be still asleep stuck in a beautiful dream. But more so he smiled, loving the feel of her inside his folded arms. She smelled so sweet, her hair soft as he rubbed his chin against it.

"I'm so stupid sometimes…" She began, shifting her head to look at him. He didn't give her a chance to explain further, it didn't matter as he did the thing he really wanted to do for Christmas. He kissed her.

* * *

><p>"What are they getting from Archives again?" Arty asked as he handed Jack the laser scapula.<p>

"Absolutely nothing I don't already know and don't really need." He said as he applied the tool to the thing's robotic brain. Arty frowned, trying to follow Jack. "I just wanted Steven and Helen to have a think. I'm not a monster when it comes to these things, Arty. If I was I would have locked Steven up and lost the key. She doesn't know her own feelings sometimes. But I have a feeling that we may get to a wedding, maybe two on the New Year. Sometimes all a Christmas Miracle takes is a bit of spit and polish, good old fashioned meddling and letting two people near each other."

He puzzled Jack's words around in his head until he finally got the meaning. "So here I thought you would fight for her until the death. I guess I'm wrong about you. It must hurt a little bit, though?" He jumped as the ice blue eyes from the thing came on. "Wait, is that thing alive?"

"Activated is the term. You should know the difference by now. Yes, I have it functional." He shut it off, making a few notes before heading into another circuit. "The report they went to get, or judging by the thickness, book, is a light read on electronic short and long wave energy transmissions, a cheat sheet on how to tap on other sources to conserve power in a spaceship. The last Rift alarm told me that the transmission is short wave, which means the ship is using the Rift as a transporter of sorts. The ship must be in orbit, not the Earth's, we would have seen that, but it could be the moon's shadow or Mars, but it is close to us. The Rift is like plugging in your refrigerator at your neighbors while he is away. He pays the bill and you get that energy for free. The party using it has no idea we are even here monitoring the damn thing so they think they have gotten something for free."

"And you are trying to find away to show them pay back is a bitch. But you had this fear that they were going to release an army to get the stone. You don't seem worried now."

The front right paw moved along with the back right one. "Oh come on Arty! You know I can be a bit of a Drama Queen. I since came to the conclusion that this stone is only important to one person with little resources."

"So he needs to steal energy to operate. Nicely done, let's hope you are right." Arty smirked mentally, calculating how long it would take for Helen and Steven to get back and just how they would approach Jack about their love for each other. He then had an after thought asking Jack, "You said two weddings, exactly who is involved in the second one?"

* * *

><p>"I won't give him the boy." Kate stamped her foot at Phil. It was the most adorable thing she ever did. She turned back to the Christmas tree, handing Aden a red glass ball to hang.<p>

"Of course not." Aden watched Phil and Kate speak to each other then went for another ball to hang. Phil reassured Kate. "It isn't going to come to that. Jack thinks he can get the stone to let go. Would you like that, Aden? To be free of that thing?" Phil went to the boy.

Aden trusted these people like he trusted no other in his life. Phil didn't want those things from him like the other men before. Phil seemed to take an actual interested in Aden and that made him feel happy. He liked Phil and Kate, wishing they were his parents. It was also the first Christmas tree he had ever helped decorate.

"I would, Phil, but will it hurt?" His hand didn't hurt now, it just felt warm and he was getting used to it the way it was. But he wanted to be brave for Kate and Phil. So the scared feeling he had he buried deep inside.

"If I said no, I might be lying to you. I don't know for sure if it will hurt, since I have no idea exactly what will happen. I feel you are grown up enough to know the truth that it may hurt. But Kate and I will be there and promise to make it quick."

Kate smiled at Aden, squeezing his shoulder. When she handed the boy a box of ornaments to hang she took Phil to the side out of earshot of Aden to continue the conversation. Phil smiled loving the chance to be close to her.

"Jack thinks he knows what he is doing, that is what bothers me. Aden doesn't know Jack and won't trust him. The only glimpse he had of Jack was when he hit him over the head." Kate was right; all that Aden knew of Jack was that he tried to take the stone, another adult trying to hurt him.

"Kate, he can't live with the stone. Jack is convinced that the stone melded on to the boy after the thing tried to take it. Jack also thinks that once the thing is activated and sees the boy with the stone, the stone will go with the thing, leaving the boy behind." She was hugging herself in fear of the unknown when he went to her, grabbing her shoulders. It was a mistake since now he felt something stir inside of him. She was very pretty and she had a great zest for life. Her cheeks went rosy when she figured out that he wasn't just looking at her as her boss anymore.

"What if the stone is harmful?" She relaxed at his touch, watching his eyes closely.

"Jack is contacting the owner to find that out. I was against it because sometimes his means can do more harm than good. But I think he has a handle on this one. You know Jack, letting us think he doesn't know something when he is a bloody professional at it. He is using the creature as a communicator; supposedly retracing the path the thing came from. If it is bad, Jack says we will find out sooner than later. Right now we kind of just have to believe in Jack, we don't have any options." He pulled her into a hug.

She liked this feeling as she wrapped her arms around him. Aden watched with a smile, it felt right to the little boy and it also felt like family. He stepped back; looking at the tree wondering if this was what home was like.

* * *

><p>"You must understand Captain, loss of life isn't acceptable by my people. It was supposed to just get the stone and leave. Our Seekerbot is the best made but even things like snow, if I get your meaning of it, can interfere with its functions. I'm sorry and we will give three of our own lives in payment for those lost." The Aledrian voice sounded sorrowful to the Torchwood team that gathered to listen around the thing sitting on the floor posing now as a communications device. Its eyes glowed and flicked as if responding to the tones in the alien's voice.<p>

"As much as it would ease your guilt, we on Earth don't all believe in an eye for an eye." Jack said.

"Ah, yes, one of your Earth religious laws. Your culture is very interesting. Some day I would like to visit the place. We could exchange cultural. Most races don't seem to do that any more. It is all about war and conquest and who is more threatening but your world seems to have some open minds." The eyes went to a warmer yellow in response to the warmer tone in the alien's voice.

Jack shook his head but kept smiling. "We are a few compared to the many on this world that would panic at the sight of you. It would be best for both our parties to wait a few hundred years for that meeting. But the stone, I don't get why something so harmless responded to the boy the way it has?"

"Ah yes, your world is still learning to accept others from the stars. That in it self is something to observe, it has been many cycles since we have witnessed a young world like yours. But you ask about the stone. It is harmless, that I can assure you. But it is gift for our leader, designed for him. He is without, how would you say, faith. You would say soul sick. He has lost so much over the last deconnon so he has been grieving. This has made him begin to fade. We love our Royal one and I was sent to the Seer to find a cure. He gave me the stone. When we came into your planet's space, we hit a time pocket from that Rift of yours, Captain. The stone was taken in a beam of light; we sent the seeker to find it. The rest you know." He paused to those around it was as if in the silence he was thinking, trying to find the right words to use next. "If the boy is in emotional pain, the stone has attached to him to help heal him."

They all saw it now, Aden was a victim of abuse by many, and he was lost, alone in a storm and the stone found him.

"At least it won't harm him. But how do we get it to let go?" Jack seemed puzzled at the how of it.

"If he is soul hurt, he needs to be healed. The stone will let go once that is done and you can send it back with my Seekerbot."

* * *

><p>Phil thought about one thing when little Aden was allowed to join them. He thought how lost the little boy looked. He wanted to change that so without thought he turned to Kate.<p>

"Kate, I know this is as sudden for me as it is you, but I think we both have feeling for each other. I believe that I love you enough to share a life with you. Lets do that and give Aden a home." He went down on one knee to the shock of the others.

Steven was next to Helen, Jack noted, holding hands. He didn't feel sad or jealous; he let his feeling take a Christmas direction. He was happy that they found each other, that both of them would know real happiness. Arty was sniffling next to him as they stood in the light of the Christmas tree waiting for Kate's answer.

Kate was crying as she went down on her knees to hug Phil. "Yes," she said through the tears. "Aden, get over here!" She waved for the boy to come.

But as he went to move his hand began to glow through the glove. He stopped and removed the glove, staring at his hand. The light was bright, unearthly to the group used to such things. To them it seemed to heal them as it flashed one brighter burst and then fell to the floor.

The thing rose from the table in the Med Lab and approached the stone. "Thank You, Captain Harkness, thanks to all of you for your help, I hope some day we meet again. Merry Christmas to all of Torchwood." And in an event brighter light it vanished.

* * *

><p>Jack watched the couples chatter while Arty played with Aden. The boy was happy, making Jack happy that this time things turned out for the best. He didn't stay for the rest of the celebration. They had hoped he would this time. But after the presents he vanished. Something they had gotten use to him doing. They would see him in the morning for the final changes to the team and goodbyes.<p>

Arty was unsure about being leader but Jack promised he would help with his adjustments in taking on the task like he did with others before him. He also mentioned he would try to be more human with his choices. It was the best gift Jack could give, something the Doctor would have liked, to remember he was human.

Steven and Helen were married that spring as Jack thought and he even went, giving the bride away. He was very happy for them and they named their first born son Jack and stayed in Scotland while Kate went to London with Phil and Aden. Phil and Kate married a year later and had a sister for Aden. Aden grew up to be a doctor, helping the sick.

And Jack, we know some of Jack's story but there is so much more to tell. And as Arty had asked him if it hurt a little letting go of Helen, of course it did. But he would have to get used to that feeling. Loss is something that he would have with him forever, after all. But it didn't mean he would give up loving.

The End

Merry Christmas to all!


End file.
